


Armour Ourselves Against Inevitable Loss

by templefugate



Category: Batman: Arkham (Video Games), DCU
Genre: Angst, Barbara Gordon is Oracle, Canon Disabled Character, Drabble, F/M, One Shot, Post-Batman: Arkham Knight, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-03
Updated: 2018-12-03
Packaged: 2019-09-06 00:59:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 336
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16821952
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/templefugate/pseuds/templefugate
Summary: "I thought you were dead."





	Armour Ourselves Against Inevitable Loss

**Author's Note:**

> I've been meaning to write a fic for this pair but only recently had a decent drabble idea.

"I thought you were dead."

There's something about seeing a person's face - really seeing it - that sets Barbara on edge. It's one thing to see it on a screen, distorted by camera quality or caught motionless in a single image. It's another to have it a few feet from one's own face, close enough to where she can make out every pore on Jason's face. As always, her eyes fall upon the swirling "J," the skin of it still red and puffy. She never means to do it, but it's like trying to resist a magnet's pull.

"I disappear and a new Robin is out on the streets before I fully realize the hell I'm in. Batgirl disappears and it's like she never even existed at all." He ran a hand through his hair. "The guy actually played clips about the event, not the aftermath. Guess when I heard the word 'bullet' my mind jumped in one direction, never considering the other possibilities."

Barbara pushes her glasses up her nose. What a pair they must be, the two living ghosts.

"Were you ever glad you turned out wrong?" Barbara wheels forward. The motion is quick, practiced, but enough to send a blur of pain down below her hips. She bites her lip, and if Jason sees he it doesn't show it. Phantom pain is a ghost even her most potent prescriptions can't fully exorcise.

He closes the gap between them, taking one of her hands. The other hangs in the air, close to her face but not touching it. His eyes widen, as if taking her in for the first time. Years before, he'd made the same look, one that was obvious even behind a domino mask.

"See anything you like, Boy Wonder?" She'd laughed then and Jason had, after a moment, joined in.

Jason's hand, calloused, rough, and dry, touches her cheek. His touch is firm and warm; Barbara probably feels like a sheet of ice compared to him. "More than you could ever know."


End file.
